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The email trick test will make sure you're not a victim ofvicious scams. It's about a little knowledge and simplesteps you can take to avoid these criminals.

Three out of five emails are "SPAM".

It's not surprising that it annoys us because there's somuch of it, and the content ranges from adverts to porn, begging letters and scams.

With regard to emails spam means "unsolicited bulk email" -Bulk email means sending the same message to manythousands of people, a favorite with spammers. Someone somewhere will click on it.

The email trick test will help you to avoid a very nastyscam called "Phishing". You might receive an email:

"We suspect an unauthorized transaction on your account. Toensure that your account is not compromised, please clickthe link below and confirm your identity."

"During our regular verification of accounts, we couldn'tverify your information. Please click here to update andverify your information"

They're trying to get information from you such as creditcard details, bank account information, Social Securitynumber, passwords, or other sensitive information.

Once they get your personal details, they go for the shortterm gains by raiding your bank account and "maxing out"your credit cards. They can also take out loans in yourname. You probably won't know about it until the loancompany's start chasing the overdue payments.

Legitimate companies will not ask for personal informationby email. Don't let the style of the email mislead you, it's very easy to copy bank headers. Don't use any linksfrom these emails as they can make links look as ifthey're going to one place, but they're being redirectedto another.

If you get an email with an attachment and you don'trecognise the sender, don't open it, delete it.Attachments to emails can transfer a virus; it's oftenlaunched when you open the attachment (usually by double-clicking the attachment icon).

Malware - software designed to infiltrate or damagecomputer systems. Malware commonly includes computerviruses, worms, Trojan horses, spyware and adware.

Viruses - a computer virus behaves in a similar way to abiological virus, which spreads by inserting itself intoliving cells. The negative effect of computer virusesincludes uncontrolled self-reproduction, which canoverwhelm your computer. They can erase files and corruptthe operating system. They can arrive on a floppy disk, from a download, or an attachment to an e-mail.

Worms: a self-replicating computer program similar to acomputer virus. A worms self-contained and doesn't needanother program to propagate itself. Worms tend to harmthe network and consume bandwidth, whereas viruses infector corrupt files on a targeted computer.

Trojan horses: Trojan horse programs can't operate on theirown like viruses or worms. A Trojan horse, technically anormal computer program, does not possess the means tospread itself. They will probably be part of a free game orprogram.

In the background it might modify or delete files, changethe configuration of the computer, or even use thecomputer as a base from which to attack other computers.

Spyware ' it's software that gathers information on how you useyour computer, and then transmits the data to anothersource. It can also transmit the usernames and passwordsyou've typed in online.

Adware - it's software that displays advertising on yourcomputer. Spyware and adware are often part of the sameprogram. But when the software starts silently spying onyou, it stops being harmless.

Hackers / criminals can run software on your computer, place malicious code on your hard drive, and even copyexactly what you're typing.

What You Can Do About It - It's Easy and Essential

First a few explanations

A Firewall examines the traffic/data coming into and goingout of a computer, and then either allows or denies thistraffic. If there's no firewall, a personal computer runsthe risk of being hi-jacked within minutes of going on theinternet. It becomes an open door through which anyone oranything can enter.

Anti-virus - a virus can erase files and corrupt theoperating system.

Latest windows updates - especially those relating toSecurity

Stop Spyware - malicious spyware programs that installthemselves without your permission and then sends datasilently to another source without you knowing.

Stop Unwanted email - a program that sorts out the spam, not essential for everyone, but you will know when sortingthe email takes up too much of your time.

Regular backups are absolutely essential, becausesometime in the future you will meet a problem. With abackup you can smile, if there's no backup you're in realtrouble.

Resources - that cover security issues mentioned in thisarticle:

Online Security: http://www.firewallguide.com/index.htmlWindows free updates: http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate

Anti Spam - Anti Phishing: http://www.cloudmark.comFree Spam Blocker: http://www.mailwasher.netStart with resource number one "Online Security" you willlearn more about the things you need to know, and there'salso quality free software available.

It's not very exciting checking your security, but it'sbetter than the emotional stress, or financial loss.

Think about it - seriously!

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Copyright 2006 Sam Henderson

Use our free software to match your talents with successfulat home businesses. Sam Henderson

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